10 Amazing Courageous People In History

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

When researching this list, I wanted to find stories that convey the inherent altruistic nature we're all capable of, but don't often hear about. Those unsung heroes that risked everything for a greater good and, for a moment, transcended their own immortality to make the right decision where most others would have hesitated. Some heroes affect one life, while others can change the course of history. Today we'll be looking at 10 courageous people in history and their amazing acts of heroism.

The bravery of Gurkha soldiers in battle is well documented. Incredibly skilled fighters with a clinical method of attack and brutal tactics that sometimes even disturb the rest of the British Army they are part of. This bravery does not stop on the battlefield or when they retire, as a group of train robbers and would-be rapist found out.

On September 2, 2010, a group of over 30 armed robbers attacked the Maurya Express, and everything went according to plan for them, until they decided to try and add rape to the list of offenses. At this point, Bishnu Shrestha, a retired Nepali Gurkha soldier, had had enough and proceed to draw his kukri fighting knife and fight back. While the robbers were armed with guns, knives, clubs, and swords, and were well organized, Shrestha did not care. He attacked ferociously, working his way through the train cars. By the end of the attack, he had killed three of the bandits, and seriously wounded another eight, before being subdued by the robbers as they tried to escape from the train.

Shrestha suffered a serious injury to his hand, but recovered. For his bravery, he was temporarily reinstated to his unit for the purpose of being promoted and honored with medals, as well as a cash bonus and discounted travel tickets from the Indian Government. Best of all, when the family of the girl who was the target of the attempted rape tried to give him a reward, he turned it down.

Vasili Arkhipov risks his career and life to avert the eruption of the Cold War

Under Communist rule, to go against the party was to risk the lives of you and everyone you knew. It was a tense time, highlighted by the Cuban Missile Crisis, which brought the conflict to the point of near-nuclear conflict. If not for the actions of one primary officer on Russian submarine B-59, Vasili Arkhipov, one of the biggest man-made disasters would have erupted on October 27, 1962.

With no communication from Moscow, stranded halfway across the world and under constant barrage from the United States Navy, the captain of the submarine came to the conclusion that war had started. While his political officer concurred, they needed agreement from the third officer, Arkhipov, for launch. He would not budge, an action that if he was wrong, would be cause for the extermination of him and his family. After convincing the captain to surface, it became clear the Arkhipov was correct, and had narrowly averted turning the Cold War hot.